Rome, 15 June 2022 – The fire in Malagrotta, flared up in the late afternoon for reasons yet to be ascertained, it is likely to report Roma on the threshold ofwaste emergency. A thick column of smoke it rose towards the sky, visible from miles away, and a strong smell of burning spread in the area surrounding the plant. The plant operators gave the alarm. The citizens’ committee of the Galeria Valley has launched the dioxin danger: “In addition to the risk of dioxin released into the air – they report on Facebook – there are the adjacent gas and petrol depots that have been alerted. Inside the shed, waste is stored. The firefighters say to close the windows or move away to who is about a kilometer away “. The causes of the fire, which has also affected the gasifier for years inactive, are still to be ascertained: once the flames have been put out, the findings of the brigade will help to clarify the origin and exclude any malice. Also to be clarified any effects on the waste cycle of the capital already put to the test by a chronic shortage of plants.
After the fire, still in progress, the Municipality and the municipalities would be going in the direction of issuing a” ordinance for the closure of preschools and infant-toddler centers, with a radius of kilometers yet to be defined. In addition, requirements for the harvest and consumption of crops should also be disclosed.
The already very fragile collection cycle and city disposal relies on just 3 Tmb, two in Malagrotta and one in Rocca Cencia, on the San Vittore waste-to-energy plant (in the province of Frosinone) and on the transport of tons of processing parts, which each year end up in plants scattered in other regions when not abroad. Now one of the 3 Tmbs is out of order.
Even if the Malagrotta landfill no longer serves Rome since it was closed by the mayor Ignazio Marino, the plants present, owned by the E. Giovi company, serve the capital by treating up to over 1200 tons of waste a day, 8,100 a week. Fundamental numbers for the already fragile waste cycle in Rome that prompted the mayor Roberto Gualtieri to decide on the construction of a waste-to-energy plant to make the capital autonomous and efficient. The Capitoline councilor on waste, Sabrina Alfonsi, also came to the site to personally verify the impact of the accident on the territory, and to this end, “ARPA assistance has already been activated to analyze the effects on the quality of the air “, report from the Municipality of Rome.